Vail Resorts Thursday announced sweeping new summer plans for its flagship Vail Mountain, with a proposal that combines zip lines, tubing and alpine coasters with an educational and environmental program.

The ski resort company’s “Epic Discovery” proposal — submitted to the White River National Forest for review on Thursday — is the first to propose sweeping new summer plans under new federal legislation that encourages more summer activity at ski areas.

“We believe we can create an experience on our mountain resorts inside the National Forest that is more fun and more engaging with more educational opportunities than what you see in the National Park System,” he said. “It’s almost like creating a huge interactive children’s museum, but up on the mountain.”

The proposal combines a playground of zip lines, climbing walls, trails and ropes courses with educational kiosks and “interpretative discovery zones” around the mountaintop Adventure Ridge.

The company plans to “way more than double” its existing roster of 250 summer employees on Vail Mountain, Katz said. A primary goal of the legislation to boost local economies and iron out the fluctuations between winter and summer economies in mountain resort communities.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs, who authored the summer recreation bill, said in a statement he was “thrilled” that his act “will enable mountain resorts such as Vail to introduce Colorado’s breathtaking forest to a wider group of visitors.”

“The creation of additional educational and recreational attractions during the summer months will create jobs in our mountain communities, help boost local economies and add to the amazing quality of life Coloradoans already enjoy,” Udall said.

“We were very supportive of the idea of being able to attract and educate new audiences with information about the importance of forest lands and doing that in a setting that is connecting them to those forest lands,” said the Nature Conservancy’s Colorado Director Tim Sullivan. “With more and more people living in cities and don’t get as much opportunity to get outdoor experience, this certainly will get more new people outdoors who haven’t had that kind of experience before.”

Vail too is eager to broaden its visitor base beyond skiers. The company plans to offer affordable gondola tickets and then charge per activity atop the mountain.

“This opens up our mountains to different demographics, both income and ethnic demographics,” Katz said.

The plan will require Forest Service review under the National Environmental Protection Act, but Vail is hoping its plans pass muster considering it does not require new infrastructure on the mountain such as restaurants, restrooms or chairlifts. If the review moves quickly – say 18 months – the new summer activities could open in 2014. Eventually, similar projects would unfold on the company’s Breckenridge, Keystone and Beaver Creek resorts as well as Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in California.

Katz said the educational component, which will include Forest Service rangers offering insight into flora, fauna and the alpine ecosystem, will appeal to the agency.

“This could be a new way for people to see the forest and is almost a new branding opportunity for National Forest Service,” he said. “I think they see this as ‘These things were coming anyway and now they are coming with all these extra benefits.'”

Jason Blevins covers tourism, mountain business, skiing and outdoor adventure sports for both the business and sports sections at The Denver Post, which he joined in 1997. He skis, pedals, paddles and occasionally boogies in the hills and is just as inspired by the lively entrepreneurial spirit that permeates Colorado's high country communities as he is by the views.